


ask me why my heart's inside my throat

by aurorean



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Abandonment Issues, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Back to Earth, M/M, Pining, Post-Canon Fix-It, Season/Series 07, Season/Series 07 Spoilers, Self-Doubt, Snippets, i will never give up on my boys, klance is canon king
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-11
Updated: 2018-08-11
Packaged: 2019-06-25 17:25:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15645465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aurorean/pseuds/aurorean
Summary: “Lance, lead the way. Keep the team together.”Immediately, warning sounds go off in Lance’s head. Fear rises up in his throat, completely out-of-the-blue and it freezes him in his place. It's so thick it feels tangible, like it’s physically blocking up Lance’s windpipe. What’s going on? Why is he so scared?(or; snippets of klance throughout season seven, lance just wants to save keith)





	ask me why my heart's inside my throat

**Author's Note:**

> listen. i know. it hurts, a lot. but i'm optimistic and i refuse to give up before s8 airs. if you want to rant, feel free to in the comments. we know klance is canon king, deep within our hearts. 
> 
> anyways vague pining and lots of scared lance. but it's okay in the end. 
> 
> title from this side of paradise by coyote theory
> 
> edit: i have found out that this fic was put on a rec list! that's very exciting! if you're coming from [this](https://klanceficatalogue.tumblr.com/post/176939864897/s7-fix-it-masterlist) post i am very excited to see you! hello! thank you for reading!

It has been so long since Lance has had a break. Lotor is defeated. The Castle of Lions is gone. Here they are, stranded on a strange planet. Shiro isn't waking up. Keith is really upset, too. Lance has no idea what happened between them during the fight with Kuron, and now doesn't seem like the time to ask. He has to squash the urge to reach out and touch Keith’s hand, to offer what miniscule comfort he can. 

He’s missed him. He's missed him a lot. 

It’s right back to business, of course. Time to go save their lions. Lance spares one look back at Keith before he leaves. Looking at Allura doesn't even cross his mind.

When they get back, Lance is delighted to see Shiro awake and see Keith with a smile on his face. He immediately launches into the story of their mini adventure, a small plume of happiness rising in his chest when he sees Keith roll his eyes. Yes, finally. Things were back to normal. Keith was back and they were okay. 

He has to stop himself from patting Keith on the shoulder as he comes over to give Shiro a hug. Maybe not entirely normal. 

\-- 

“Lance, lead the way. Keep the team together.” 

Immediately, warning sounds go off in Lance’s head. Fear rises up in his throat, completely out-of-the-blue and it freezes him in his place. It's so thick it feels tangible, like it’s physically blocking up Lance’s windpipe. What’s going on? Why is he so scared? 

“Wait, where are you going?” Lance says, his voice straining slightly on the last few words.

Keith looks at him dead in the eyes, the severity of the situation extremely clear. “Axca saved our skin. I’m not gonna leave her behind. I’ll meet up with you guys soon.”

Lance swallows down nausea as he watches Keith leave. He's never felt this much dread watching Keith leave on his own before, not even when he left for the blades. He knows he's coming back, but something in him is _scared._ He wants Keith to be safe. He just got him back. He needs to be safe. 

It takes Lance a second to compose himself before turning back to the team. He’s leading them out of here. He won't let Keith down. 

\--

A prickle of frustration and mild panic encases Lance’s brain as he tries and fails to identify the faces flashing on the screen in front of him. The host has called him dumb, multiple times, and he’s starting to think he’s right. All of his previous confidence is being thrown right out the window. Hearing his team moan and groan behind him certainly isn't helping. Dammit. He needs to do well to get them out of here. 

He glances back at the team. Bad decision. They look as disappointed as he feels. His stomach sinks. They're right. He's the dumb one. And it's his fault that they're going to be trapped in this gameshow hellscape for all of eternity. 

\-- 

Only one of them can leave. Figures. He can't help thinking this is his fault but he pushes through the doubt. He needs to pick the person that deserves to escape the most. The one with the best future. He glances at his teammates, and thinks about who he would miss the most if they escaped.

It's easy after that.

When Hunk picks Allura, it stings a little, but Lance shakes it off. He would've picked Allura too, if he could pick more than one of his friends. Heck, he would've picked all of them given the chance. And Allura does deserve to be freed. There is so much more she can do for the universe. Alright. Fine.

When Allura picks Pidge, it hurts a bit more. He'd never thought she and Pidge were that close. But Pidge also deserves to be freed. Her big brain could help save thousands of lives, and she needs to return to her family after all she's done to get them back. Okay. Cool.

It's Lance’s turn. He swallows hard before he answers. He hopes he did the right thing. 

“I voted for Keith. He’s our leader, plus he’s half galra, so I think he’s like, the future.” 

Oh God, that was too much. Keith is staring at his feet rather intensely. Lance definitely freaked him out. He’s sure there's a really dopey smile on his face, too, which is even worse! He should've just chosen Allura. This was a mistake.

He’s freaking out so much he almost misses it when Bob says, “Lance? Why Lance?” 

Lance’s head snaps over to where Keith is standing. He's still glaring at the floor, but Lance feels like exploding. Keith picked _him._ Keith picked him! He's so happy he's almost able to ignore Keith’s (kinda mean) reply. 

Keith chose him. 

\-- 

“That guy was kind of a jerk though, right?” 

Lance grins.

\-- 

“We just need to hang tight. We have each other.” 

Lance stares at Keith, feeling the terror that had seized his chest earlier start to loosen. Keith has become an amazing leader. Lance is almost jealous at how mature he seems. 

With a smile he hopes doesn't look too crazy, Lance turns to Hunk. 

“Don't worry Hunk. Something will be along to kill us any minute now.” Lance blinks hard as the fear starts to reemerge. “Any minute.” 

Keith looks at him. Lance looks right back.

They float in silence. 

\-- 

They're fighting. They never fight. Lance is tired and his head hurts and Keith and Allura are fighting. Hunk is trying to calm them down, but then Keith mentions Lotor and something awful rises up in Lance’s stomach. 

“Keith, you ran away. Maybe you should've just stayed away.”

It's probably the most disgusting thing Lance has ever said, considering how much he had missed Keith, but his oxygen-depleted brain isn't letting him think before he talks. The words taste bitter and rancid as they sweep over his tongue. He regrets it as soon as the words leave his mouth. Keith reacts immediately, his eyes widening and his mouth curling into a snarl. He almost looks...hurt. But Lance is angry and Keith left and Lance is so mad that he left, left him alone and--

Hunk calms them down. Lance breathes, hard. He hadn't realized how shaky his breaths had been. Lance finds himself clutching Keith’s arm a little tighter. Keith doesn't seem to feel it.

He doesn't want Keith to die. He can't leave again. 

\-- 

There's a ringing in his ears. _Ow._ His head hurts so bad. He doesn't want to open his eyes, but he forces them open anyways. Vaguely, he hears people calling for him over the coms. Allura, Shiro, Pidge. He just groans. 

“Lance? Lance, come in!” 

Lance snaps to attention immediately. Keith. Keith sounds scared. He sounds scared and worried and--

The lions. The canons. Veronica. They need his help. 

Keith’s voice echoes in his ears as Lance jumps up and races towards his sister. He can do this. Save Veronica. Save Earth. Save Keith. 

Why can't this be over. 

\--

He wakes up to a voice. Again. And he's alone. Again. Pushing himself to his knees, Lance hears it: Keith. 

“Lance!” 

His voice is strained, terrified. He keeps calling out for the rest of the team, sounding more desperate than Lance has ever heard him. Lance opens his mouth to answer. 

“I-I’m here,” Lance says, his body immediately releasing all its tension after Keith makes an affirmative sound. 

Lance thinks he probably imagined Keith’s sigh of relief afterwards.

\--

That's it. They're dead. The robot is going to self-destruct and they're all gonna die. 

Despite the thoughts whirling around his head, Lance feels strangely calm. He'd done it. He'd saved Earth. He'd saved his family. 

He hadn't saved Keith, though. 

He decides it's now or never. 

“Keith?” His voice is strong, clear. He knows everyone else can hear him but he doesn't care. He's going to die anyways.

“Lance.” Keith’s voice is haggard. 

“Keith, I--" 

\--

When he opens his eyes, he's immediately tackled in a hug by Veronica. Lance groans loudly, and she pulls away quickly, scrubbing at the tears in her eyes.

“‘M…’M alive?” Lance slurs. 

“Yeah, you big dummy. You saved us all,” Veronica says, laughing a little. She takes Lance’s hand into her own.

He's really sleepy. Veronica seems to notice and gently rubs her thumb over his knuckles. “Go to sleep. Mamá and Papá and everyone else will be here when you wake up.”

No. He had one more question, but it took a lot of effort to form the word. He was really tired.

“Keith?” Lance mumbles, struggling to keep his eyes open. 

“He’s okay. He's recovering in the next room over. You can see each other once you get better.” Veronica smooths his hair out. “Now rest.” 

Lance drifts back to sleep with a smile on his face. He'd saved Keith. They were okay. 

The universe had finally cut him a break.

**Author's Note:**

> find me @auroreana on tumblr


End file.
